As predicted by Mec Vannin, the
government's
response to the housing crisis has been completely ineffectual. House
prices
continue to rise and young Manx people continue to be forced out of
their
country because they can't afford to live here. A handful of sites not
owned by Dandara / Heritage Homes have been identified where some
houses
can be built but, even on the off-chance that some of them actually end
up being lived in by Manx people, it will do nothing to address the
fundamental
problem - encouraged immigration. And of course, if housing is made
available
to Manx people, it will reduce immigration. That is contrary to the
government's
objective.

Manx people are being openly and
deliberately
disadvantaged in housing by government employment deals: A Manx person
in any given job will be paid a given wage. An imported employee may be
given the same wage but will additionally receive payments to assist
with
housing and even regular trips "home"!

It is well known that placebo
"starter
homes", thrown into private developments as sweeteners to ease
opposition,
are being bought up by foreign landlords in order to milk the current
market.
They will rent to the highest bidder which automatically favours
relatively
wealthy immigrants.

The government in the Isle of Man
does
not want housing prices to fall: As long as they remain too high, Manx
people will continue to be driven out to be replaced by wealthy
immigrants.
That is what the government wants - the policies of extreme greed
cannot
accommodate anyone but the wealthy. The only way that the zero
income-tax
rate for businesses can work is to eradicate all those who do not have
a high personal income and spending profile. The most expedient way for
the government to achieve this objective is to deny housing to those
who
cannot meet its economic objectives. It has been successful to
date.

Tax
proposals
unsupportable

Mec Vannin have repeatedly warned
that
the government in the Isle of Man would paint us into a corner with the
tax-haven economy. These warnings, arrogantly and ignorantly dismissed
by a succession of less than intellectually glowing administrations,
have
now ultimately materialised.

So dire is the situation that the
phased
reductions in standard rates of income tax proposed by Richard Corkill
when Treasury Minister have now been hastily scrapped with the proposal
to get rid of income tax for businesses all together. The government in
the Isle of Man has encouraged total reliance upon the highly
restrictive
and ultimately damaging Customs and Excise agreement for generating
income.
The overwhelming majority of the billions of pounds (frequently linked
to criminal activity) stashed in the Isle of Man doesn't earn a single
penny for government coffers. The only justification for its being here
is to generate employment and, since there aren't even enough
immigrants
to fill the job vacancies, it can't be deemed to be doing Manx people
one
jot of good.

Multi-billion pound companies
must be laughing
themselves senseless at the Manx people who have to pay huge amounts of
VAT, income tax and National Insurance. These businesses will shortly
be
paying nothing. Remember that the overwhelming majority of VAT is
reclaimed
by businesses.

The Treasury claims that the
proposals
will not incur the wrath of the EU. This is the same Treasury that
claimed,
when Mec Vannin made the EU's intentions to shut down tax-havens
public,
that the EU could not interfere with the Isle of Man. The ostriches are
now digging there heads even deeper in the sand, perhaps in the hope of
finding some fantasy land underground.

After 3 years of uncontrolled
boom in the
late 80s and into 1990, the Isle of Man only escaped technical
recession
by the skin of its teeth - the rampant free-for- all provided no
lasting
benefit. The government in the Isle of Man only managed to fulfil its
legal
obligation to stay in the black by "creative accountancy".

It was lucky that the European
economic
down-turn was short lived and the money started flowing again.

The past six years have seen a
runaway
global economy that has lead the government in the Isle of Man, with
its
goldfish-like memory, to become complacent. The world has been
teetering
on the brink of down-turn for a year now. Al Q'aida now gets blamed for
any and all ills since September 11th 2001 but anyone who
keeps
themselves in anyway informed knows full well that this was merely an
exacerbating
factor in a slow-down that was gaining momentum.

An economy that relies on
spending rather
than producing will be the first to suffer in an economic slow down.
The
only way the Isle of Man will survive is if there is a fundamental
change
in policy.

Mec
Vannin
AGM

Mec Vannin held its 39th AGM last
week.
Officers were elected as follows:

This AGM condemns the government
in the
Isle of Man for effectively debarring Manx people from participation in
the House of Keys by forcing them to declare a false nationality.

This AGM condemns the government
in the
Isle of Man for debarring true representation of the people of Mannin
by
forcing duly elected candidates in House of Keys elections to take an
oath
to a foreign monarchy.

This AGM re-states its belief in
our own
published organs as the best method of information dissemination and,
to
this end, resolves to increase production of Yn Pabyr Seyr.

This AGM calls for the Tynwald
Members
Register of Interests to be a compulsory, complete and readily
available
document, maintained to a standard of completeness and openness to at
least
the same standard as any other such register in the Western World.

This AGM re-iterates the Party's
long-standing
opposition to an encouraged demographic shift resulting from a failure
to adequately provide tertiary education to our own, whilst importing
non-Manx
expertise on an "off the shelf basis."

This AGM calls for a public
inquiry:

a) to establish the true cost to
the public
of the Nunnery Business school and refurbishment,

b) to establish its beneficial
ownership
for the public

c) to establish why such a large
amount
of capital was directed away from the development of existing business
educational facilities and bodies

This AGM re-iterates its belief
that current
policies relating to higher education, employment, fostering and
adoption
contravene the UN genocide conventions.

This AGM regards the position of
Mr Steven
Rodan, Minister for Education, as untenable in the wake of his
behaviour
in attempting to have Mr John Cain's promotion barred and his publicly
declared dissatisfaction with his position as Education Minister.

This AGM views plans to review
work permit
legislation with extreme concern when viewed in conjunction with the
new
Residency Act.

b) does not regard the Residency
Act as
providing any protection to the increasingly marginalised Manx Nation.

In addition, the following two
Emergency
Resolutions were adopted.

This AGM calls for the
establishment of
an independent Public Inquiry into the regulation of certain
professional
fields including the Legal Profession, Civil Engineering,
Pharmaceutical
practices and others.

In light of the revelations about
the Chief
Constable's intentions in regard to the employment of Manx people and
other
events in recent time, this AGM unreservedly condemns the anti-Manx
discriminatory
practice to be found in both public and private bodies.

Time
to replace the Chief Constable

All other arguments aside, it is
now obvious
that "Scouse Mick" Culverhouse is not suitable to be a Chief Constable
in the Isle of Man. Mec Vannin expressed its view at the outset that
someone
who had chosen to abandon policing as a career was unsuitable but his
plans
to discriminate against Manx recruits is completely unsupportable. If
the
Department of Home Affairs is not actively seeking his replacement, it
is equally guilty of anti-Manx discrimination.

Government
increasingly evasive

Mr. Peter Karran, one of the MHKs
for Onchan,
keeps on asking straight forward questions about government spending.
How
much is being spent and who is receiving it? That shouldn't be too
difficult
but, in common with Mec Vannin's experience, rather than give simple
answers,
the Departments involved cite "commercial confidentiality" as a reason
for not answering.

Mr. Richard Corkill has now
bizarrely accused
Mr. Karran of undermining the government in the Isle of Man with these
questions. As long as the government refuses to answer simple questions
and offers lame excuses instead, Mec Vannin and many others are
confident
that Mr. Corkill's government is deliberately withholding facts of
prime
importance to the Manx people. What does it have to hide?

Fly-
ash disposal problem remains unanswered.

While the debate continues over
the DLGE's
intention to dispose of bottom ash from the very much unwanted
incinerator
at Archalligan, the question of the disposal of the highly toxic "fly"
ash has been swept under the carpet, so to speak. Let's uncover it
again!

Before being emptied by the
electorate,
Walter Gilbey (then DLGE minister) proclaimed that it was "unthinkable"
that the UK would not accept this material for disposal. Mec Vannin
regarded
it as perfectly "thinkable" and wrote to the UK government to seek the
true position, which is as follows:

The UK is legally bound not to
accept dangerous
material for disposal except when the originating jurisdiction does not
have and cannot develop suitable technology for its proper disposal.
Disposal
of toxic waste by the UK on the behalf of the Isle of Man was covered
by
an agreement that expired on the 31st December 2000 and has not been
renewed.

(UK Lord Chamberlain's Office)

Government
continues secretive approach to consultancy

Mec Vannin, via Campaigns Officer
Jonathan
Sless, has been trying for some time now to ascertain the degree to
which
government policy is affected by the use of consultancy. The standard
technique
employed for refusing to answer simple questions relating to the use of
consultants was "commercial confidentiality." That is unmitigated
nonsense.
Only two departments offered any form of co-operation whatsoever.

As a result of Mec Vannin's
efforts, however,
the government in the Isle of Man has undertaken to review its usage of
consultants and (would you believe it) a consultancy exercise took
place.
No views were sought from the community, however. Initially, a nebulous
advisory group consisting of accountants, lawyers and other
"professionals"
were called on to give evidence in what was advertised as a public
meeting.
When Dr. Sless tried to attend, however, he was informed that the
meeting
would take place in camera. Further hearings taking oral evidence in
support
of previously submitted evidence from selected individuals were held
but
the evidence that matters remains secret.

The government in the Isle of Man
is wilfully
preventing the public from knowing how much consultancy is steering
government
policy and spending. That is deplorable.

How
should
this country be run

The first responsibility of any
government
is to its own people in their own country. Governments in the Isle of
Man
have never been exactly strong on this point but the governments from
the
time that Miles Walker became Chief Minister to date have quite overtly
acted against us.

To provide a diversity of
opportunity and
career choice, an incentive and opportunity for our children to stay
here
and build for a Manx future, we must reverse the shift away from self
sufficiency
in all areas. That does not mean subsistence or isolation; it means
protecting
and promoting all facets of self-sufficiency so that as much money as
possible
is retained in the economy. We used to do things for ourselves but
failure
of governments in the Isle of Man to protect the Manx economy has
resulted
in a broad-based depletion of home-based businesses and skills. The
result
is that the myth of dependency has become a reality.

The only way we can achieve true
independence
is if we have full control of our customs and trade agreements on the
international
stage, provide full training to our own using exchange schemes if
necessary
and accept that the current level of economic activity cannot be
sustained.

Unless there is a fundamental
change of
personnel and ethos in Tynwald and the Civil Service, this will not
happen.

Proposed
financial crimes legislation a mere sop

Mec Vannin submitted a
substantial document
to the Department of Home Affairs in relation to a draft Bill for anti
money laundering and terrorist funding.

The Bill is ostensibly a response
to a
UN convention but, since the convention was ratified over two years ago
and the proposed Bill was produced in extraordinary haste in the wake
of
the embarrassing revelations about the Isle of Man's involvement with
Osama
bin Laden associated companies, it is obviously a knee-jerk response to
give the impression of regulation to the outside world. And, surprise,
surprise, it is based on similarly hurried UK legislation.

If the financial crime
legislation in the
Isle of Man even approached previous claims, the new legislation would
be superfluous.

Huge amounts of the Bill provide
duplicate
powers of arrest and detention of individuals as several existing Acts
without need to demonstrate reasonable cause.

The legislation, already an
extension of
English centralist political ideology, gives powers to the Lieutenant
Governor
to further implement English political objectives in a definitely
partial
fashion.

The primary subject of the UN
convention,
the finance industry, is largely exempted from the provisions of the
Bill.
As such, the Bill is nothing more than a sop to the UN convention
whilst
providing a dangerous tool to authorities in the Isle of Man to abuse
the
individual rights of those employed outside the finance industry, most
particularly in relation to the burden of proof. In this aspect, it is
doubtful whether certain provisions of the Bill could withstand a
challenge
under international laws.

The proposed use of a UK list of
prescribed
individuals and organisations confirms that this legislation is a
political
rather than a judicial tool and the UK's list has already been proven
to
be wrong.

Work-permits
need re-inforced

The recent attempt by the
Department of
Trade and Industry to effectively scrap work permit regulations was
predicted
by Mec Vannin and made subject of an AGM Resolution (see resolutions)
well
before it reached the House of Keys. Mec Vannin expressed its
position
in a letter to the Department (which can be read at groups.yahoo.com/group/mec_vannin)
and as a result, the Department have promised to consult. Why weren't
we
(or anyone else) consulted beforehand? Simply because the Department
was
attempting to represent the shallow, short term commercial interests of
largely foreign businesses rather than the interests of the Manx
people.
Situation normal.

Mec Vannin's position is
absolutely clear.
We need Manx Citizenship and work permits should be strictly temporary
and rigorously enforced.

Isle
of Man Newstraitors

The foreign owned (and largely
staffed)
Isle of Man Newspapers, the only printed newspaper surviving on the
Island,
has never been much of a friend to the Manx people. Particularly in the
area of work-permits and imported job applicants, the desire of the
editorship
to see the scant protection afforded to Manx people scrapped has never
been particularly disguised. In the case of Steve Rodan's attempt to
install
a personal acquaintance from England in favour of a perfectly competent
Manx person as Director of Education, the editorship chose to throw
itself
fully behind the woman's crudely manipulative bleatings.

Isle of Man Newspapers has now
plumbed
new depths with the reporting of "Scouse Mick" Culverhouse's covert
plan
to discriminate against Manx people for employment in our police force.
Thankfully, a person of integrity blew the whistle on Culverhouse's
disgusting
plans but, far from praising the act of putting country and people
before
any shallower allegiances, Isle of Man Newspapers branded the person a
traitor. Though predictably "miffed" at being exposed, Scouse Mick
limited
himself to branding the person as "disloyal."

Isle of Man Newspapers, under its
"Manx
Independent" title (a misnomer - neither Manx nor independent) chose to
accuse the whistle-blower as committing "treachery" - that is a is a
far
more serious and, in this case, disgustingly inappropriate charge.
Compare
this with the tirade the editorship launched against Mec Vannin's
Chairman,
Mark Kermode, for his carefully aimed 2001 Illiam Dhone Day speech. IoM
Newspapers' sensitivity to Mr. Kermode's speech is obvious and there is
now no disguising the reason: A guilty conscience!

In a less than cunning attempt to
further
undermine the position of Manx people in their own country, Isle of Man
Newstraitors ran one of those completely meaningless straw polls on the
internet. The options were carefully worded to ensure that "Manx" and
"inferior"
were implicitly linked.

Until such time as the Isle of
Man Newstraitor
monopoly is broken up, the Manx people are without a credible printed
newspaper.

They
wouldn't do that here, would they?

Enron, WorldCom and so on, and
news of
the collapse of yet another corporate giant is coming out of the US
almost
on a daily basis just now.

As these icons hit the dust under
the weight
of their own deceit it is impossible not to question the authority of
all
statements emanating from business. Claims that recent scandals are
rare
have the same ring of confidence as an Arthur Andersen balance sheet.

Since Enron rocked the US
business world,
admissions of fraudulent accounting, dishonest number crunching and
illegal
tax dodging have reached epidemic proportions.

What has all this got to do with
Mannin?
Well, if the sharp US authorities can be fooled what chance do we have
with the dullards on spam hill? Though this will come as no
surprise
to some, Mr Corkill and gang will no doubt be amazed that their
corporate
masters may have the capacity for deceit. It is now quite clear that we
are not talking about the odd rogue individual, Nick Leeson for
example,
but an entire culture rooted in dubious practices, moral dislocation
and
systemic corruption. Compliant governments in the late 80's and 90's
have
bred a generation of businesses whose excess knows no fiscal, not to
mention
moral or environmental, boundaries.

The prosletysers urging for Isle
of Man
PLC, deliberately set out to make unseemly profit from tax dodging and
development paramount. Meantime the rest of us and our island are left
to pick up the bill. Money may well make the world go round but greed
will
kill it, if intelligent governments are being conned by business, it is
frightening to speculate what could be going on here.

Mec
Vannin's position on elections

Mec Vannin is a properly
constituted political
party and is willing to contest elections at all levels. The
credibility
of Mec Vannin candidates in recent years has been demonstrated but
obstacles
have been placed to keep out republican nationalists of principle. Manx
people are forced to declare a false nationality if they stand for the
House of Keys. Anyone who is successfully elected in a General Election
must take an oath of betrayal to the Manx people or have their election
declared void. Successful candidates in Local Authorities are
inexplicably
required to swear the UK's Official Secrets Act.

To a degree, this is a conscience
matter
and the Party has not issued any instructions to members but, over the
past five years, none of the Party's members have been willing to
accept
these preconditions. Democracy and representation of the Manx people is
the ultimate victim which is probably why the government in the Isle of
Man refuses to remove the obstacles. Consequently, the matter has been
made a subject of AGM resolutions.

Can
you help?

Mec Vannin has been fighting for
the Manx
nation for 40 years. We continue to prick what little conscience there
is left in government but as long as insurmountable obstacles are
placed
in the way of our direct participation in government, we are fighting a
rearguard action. It takes time and money to campaign, especially when
you are dealing with a government that arrogantly ignores the questions
of elected members.

If you wish to help Mec Vannin,
you can
lobby your MHK to have the oath of betrayal and the false nationality
declaration
removed from the election process.